The Peer review meeting for Cluj-Napoca within the IMPROVE project, was organized by North-West Regional Development Agency between 14 –15 September 2021. The meeting took place in online format due to the pandemic situation in Europe, with an attendance of around 30 participants. The main purpose of the meeting was to share with the other partners involved in the project the good practices identified in the region.

The peer review meeting was divided in 3 sessions during the two days dedicated to the event. The 1st session held on 14th September was dedicated to the economic profile of the region and the two programming periods of the Regional Operational Program (ROP) 2014-2020 and 2021-2027. The session began with on overview of the North-West region followed by a brief presentation of the Policy Instrument: Regional Operational Program 2014-2020, Priority Axis 1. The experts from the Smart Specialization department, presented the lessons learnt from the previous programming period (2014-2020) an also the new approach for the next programming period (2021-2027). 

On 15th of September were held the other two sessions. Session 2 was dedicated for the Regional State of the Art Report of the North-West region and also for sharing with the other partners the good practices identified. The 3rd session began with a presentation held by the external expert, regarding the main element of each good practice identified. Later on, there were group discussions on two important topics, through the online tool MIRO: 

1. What ideas/approaches are of interest to the partner regions and can be transferred/taken over?

2. How can the North-West regional innovation ecosystem benefit from the experiences of other partners/new approach solutions?

The peer review event ended up with the main conclusions regarding the event and the topics discussed during all three sessions.




The IMPROVE project (Improving the management and implementation of Structural Funds for a better delivery of R&D policies and instruments) is funded under the INTERREG Europe Program.